Articles | Volume 21, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1707-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1707-2024
Research article
 | 
08 Apr 2024
Research article |  | 08 Apr 2024

A critical trade-off between nitrogen quota and growth allows Coccolithus braarudii life cycle phases to exploit varying environment

Joost de Vries, Fanny Monteiro, Gerald Langer, Colin Brownlee, and Glen Wheeler

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Cited articles

Avrahami, Y. and Frada, M. J.: Detection of Phagotrophy in the Marine Phytoplankton Group of the Coccolithophores (Calcihaptophycidae, Haptophyta) During Nutrient-replete and Phosphate-limited Growth, J. Phycol., 56, 1103–1108, https://doi.org/10.1111/jpy.12997, 2020. a
Bach, L. T., Bauke, C., Meier, K. J. S., Riebesell, U., and Schulz, K. G.: Influence of changing carbonate chemistry on morphology and weight of coccoliths formed by Emiliania huxleyi, Biogeosciences, 9, 3449–3463, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3449-2012, 2012. a
Boyd, P. W., Claustre, H., Levy, M., Siegel, D. A., and Weber, T.: Multi-faceted particle pumps drive carbon sequestration in the ocean, Nature, 568, 327–335, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1098-2, 2019. a
Cermeño, P., Lee, J. B., Wyman, K., Schofield, O., and Falkowski, P. G.: Competitive dynamics in two species of marine phytoplankton under non-equilibrium conditions, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 429, 19–28, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09088, 2011. a
Cros, L., Kleijne, A., Zeltner, A., Billard, C., and Young, J. R.: New examples of holococcolith–heterococcolith combination coccospheres and their implications for coccolithophorid biology, Mar. Micropaleontol., 39, 1–3439, 2000. a
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Short summary
Calcifying phytoplankton (coccolithophores) utilize a life cycle in which they can grow and divide into two different phases. These two phases (HET and HOL) vary in terms of their physiology and distributions, with many unknowns about what the key differences are. Using a combination of lab experiments and model simulations, we find that nutrient storage is a critical difference between the two phases and that this difference allows them to inhabit different nitrogen input regimes.
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